PC Pals Forum
Technical Help & Discussion => Windows PCs & Software: Help, News & Discussion => Topic started by: daveeb on August 06, 2005, 10:55
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Hi guys n gals, not sure if this is hardware or software but here goes
I write a lot of dvd video discs with nero as i make multiple backups of everything. After the first bootup of the day the machine has started locking up early on in the burn stage. No response to alt/ctrl/del so i have to hard boot (no soft reset button). The first reboot usually results in a permanent grey screen just after the win XP logo. I then have to do a second hard boot and the machine seems to work ok after that and i can burn away merrily. The problem has also occured moving video files using win explorer so i dont think the problem is with nero. This is costing me a ruined dvd every day.
any ideas ? it just seems odd that things seem to work ok after i've finally got back into windows. :?
machine is a medion P4, XP sp2, 3.2 GHZ, 1 GB ram, usb wireless keyboard and mouse.
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Just guessing, Dave, but is it possible that something is not closing properly, or being left behind when you shut down the machine? As you said, it seems to be something that happens on initial startup, then clears after the reboots. Nero does store temporary files, so maybe something isn't being cleared when you close Nero?
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Yes you could be right. i'll have a look in the nero menus and see if i can break it properly :D
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That sounds like it may be a RAM problem Dave :(
Have you got 2 x 512mb or one stick of 1 gb ?
If you have two sticks, pull one out and see if it does the same. If it does then switch to the other one and check again. Mine was doing similar things on startup and it turned out to be one stick had gone faulty.
If you only have the one stick then you will need to run a memory diagnostic program sush as the one from here :
http://www.memtest86.com/
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Its two sticks sandra. Can i run that diagnostic on two sticks as well ??? the pc is very cramped inside and i'd prefer not to have to take it out unless absolutely necessary :roll:
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I think you can but it recommends one at a time if I remember correctly.
It wont hurt to try it and see what it says :)
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didnt need to in the end sandra. Turned out to be a corrupt OS. Did a factory reset and the problem appears to have gone away. I was forced into a corner anyhow as the pc wouldnt boot at all today. Thanks for your ideas anyhow sandra & simon :D
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I will still find out about the safe mode thing for you tonight in case you need it sometime :)
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That would be much appreciated Sandra :D
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Turned out i spoke too soon :( Still getting the freezing even worse than before as now a reboot doesnt seem to cure it (although at least it is rebooting at the moment). It occurred to me that the freezing that occurs in win explorer and nero happens when i am working with my dvd video files which reside on the second (data) drive so i guess its a possibility that this could be the culprit. not sure if this alone would cause the reboot problems tho'. :hammer:
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Did you run the memcheck thing Dave ?
DVDs and burning are hard on ram so it may be that theres a module down which only shows when its working at its max loading.
SI soft Sandra has a "burn in" test for various parts of your pc to so that may show up a memory fault too.
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Hi Sandra, the pc sometimes freezes just viewing the files in win explorer. I'll try sss to see what it says....got to admit i didnt fully understand the tutorial for the memcheck :dunce: I rang the medion helpline and will be hearing "some time soon" regarding an engineers visit. Lets hope the engineer is better than their e-mail helpline which is a joke. :roll:
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I wonder if it might be worth just opening the case, and checking that the memory modules are seated properly?
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I wonder if it might be worth just opening the case, and checking that the memory modules are seated properly?
Good point Simon. I actually did that a month after i got the machine as it was booting no further than the "pentium inside" logo. That did the trick on that occasion, apparently you can get heat creep which slowly loosens the memory. Its the most densely packed pc i've ever seen, one for E.T. to get his hands into.
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As I've just suggested in another thread, it might also be worth reseating the graphics card, if you have a stand alone one, as they can also cause freezing if slightly unsecure.
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Well i reseated the memory sticks just in case. I also checked the event log for the latest episode of freezes. Loads of errors the main ones were as follows....
"disk error" \device hard disk 1\ D (controller error, there were around 20 of these from 3 sessions)
"ntfs" file system structure on disk is corrupt & unusable. Run chkdsk on volume F:\ (only one of these errors)
"atapi" parity error on device\ide\port 2 (3 or 4 of these)
the one that worries me most is the ntfs error....could it be damaged files or a problem with the integrity of the data drive.
the log also recommended running chkdsk on the F drive. Do i run that from within windows (the run command ?) or some other way.
all opinions gratefuuly received. :D
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If it says the file structure then I think its the file system itself Dave.
Running CHKDSK with the fix parameter should hopefully resolve any problems with the NTFS part without losing any data, it may just be long file names or some such similar problem its found.
Open the command pront by going to Run and type CMD then enter.
Type F: at the flashing cursor and hit enter then type CHKDSK then hit enter.
It will say that you havent added the F parameter so it will just run the check and list a summary of any faults at the end.
I am not sure whether the fix command is CHKDSK /F or not but run the check first and I will see if I can find the correct command for fixing any faults :)
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Thanks sandra i'll try that. I did replace a batch of suspect video files (that were involved in most but not all of the crashes). Managed to burn a disc tonight......I'm still keeping everything crossed. I suspect chkdsk fixes problems automatically but if you find out different :wink:
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Here is some info about the CHKDSK command Dave :
http://www.computerhope.com/chkdskh.htm#04
I think its easier to do as I said above and just change to the F: directory then type CHKDSK /F rather than got through the whole path name from C:
I just ran the command on mine and it said as that drive was in use it couldnt do it and it would need to be dismounted.
Did I want to dismount it Yes/No
I assume that if you say yes it will run and fix anything it finds if it can :)
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Thanks for that Sandra you're a star :D
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Blimey that didnt take long. 5 seconds to scan the frive, then 5 seconds to fix it. problem was free space being marked as allocated in the volume bitmap. i suspect it possibly stemmed from the way i got the files onto the drive...via an external usb2 drive. Anyway no freezes yet. cheers Sandra :D
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Hope it lasts for you Dave, that does seem rather quick though :?
How big was your F drive and how much was used on it ?
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160 Gb drive, around half used but probably less than 1000 files in total, mostly large video files so i'm not too concerned. Just as well as i've heard nothing from the engineer supposedly coming to replace the hard drives & memory....they do seem to have a bull in a china shop approach to pc problems. :?
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Maybe they reckon if they leave it long enough you will sort it out by yourself, as you have done now :)